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Recent Advances on Ecological Effects of Microplastics on Soil Environment

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Pollution Prevention, Mitigation and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 1868

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: soil remediation; environmental microbiology; environmental risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The mass production and wide application of plastics and their derivatives have led to the release of a large number of discarded plastic products into the natural environment, where they continue to accumulate due to their low recycling rate and long durability. These large pieces of plastic will gradually break into microplastics (< 5 mm), which are highly persistent organic pollutants and attract worldwide attention due to their small particle size and potential threats to the ecosystem. Compared with the aquatic system, terrestrial systems, such as soils, as sinks for microplastics, are more susceptible to plastic pollution. However, the ecological effects of microplastics in aqueous environments raise more concerns. The purpose of the Special Issue is to bring together original research papers and reviews that highlight the importance of the scientific approach in emphasizing the ecological effects of microplastics on soil environment, providing a better understanding of the occurrence, distribution and potential ecological risks of microplastics in soil ecosystems.

This field of study includes the effects of microplastics on soil microorganisms, soil animals, nutrient cycling, soil processes and functions and the potential risks to humans. Additionally, new techniques for the extraction and identification of microplastics from soils, the identification of toxic effects of microplastics on soil organisms/microorganisms and the degradation of microplastics are also welcome.

Dr. Bo Jiang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • soil microbial community
  • plastisphere
  • ecological risks
  • microplastics degradation
  • nutrient cycling

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 6001 KiB  
Article
Soil Microbial Community Varied with Vegetation Types on a Small Regional Scale of the Qilian Mountains
by Wen Zhao, Yali Yin, Shixiong Li, Jingjing Liu, Yiling Dong and Shifeng Su
Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7910; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137910 - 29 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1485
Abstract
Clarifying the response of soil microbial communities to the change of different vegetation types on a small regional scale is of great significance for understanding the sustainability of grassland development. However, the distribution patterns and driving factors of the microbial community are not [...] Read more.
Clarifying the response of soil microbial communities to the change of different vegetation types on a small regional scale is of great significance for understanding the sustainability of grassland development. However, the distribution patterns and driving factors of the microbial community are not well understood in the Qilian Mountains. Therefore, we characterized and compared the soil microbial communities underlying the four vegetation types in a national natural reserve (reseeded grassland, swamp meadow, steppe meadow, and cultivated grassland) using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA and ITS. Meanwhile, the plant community and soil physicochemical characteristics were also determined. The results showed that bacterial and fungal communities in all vegetation types had the same dominant species, but the relative abundance differed substantially, which caused significant spatial heterogeneities on the small regional scale. Specifically, bacteria showed higher variability among different vegetation types than fungi, among which the bacterial and fungal communities were more sensitive to the changes in soil than to plant characteristics. Furthermore, soil organic carbon affected the widest portion of the microbial community, nitrate-nitrogen was the main factor affecting bacteria, and aboveground plant biomass was the main factor affecting fungi. Collectively, these results demonstrate the value of considering multiple small regional spatial scales when studying the relationship between the soil microbial community and environmental characteristics. Our study may have important implications for grassland management following natural disturbances or human alterations. Full article
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